SOMETHING I SHOULD HAVE BEEN MENTIONING ALL ALONG is that each of these chapters should be able to stand alone, and that the reader stopping by need not necessarily read all the previous chapters in order to (hopefully) enjoy this one, though I'd love you to.
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Chapter 8 finds us still married in 1977. Nothing much has changed for us; still living in the same crooked little house, still broke and still not living the kind of married life that I had envisioned.
I'm still doing whatever Mike wanted me to do as well, and what Mike wanted me to do one night in 1977 was to do put on a rather skimpy dress, wear nothing underneath it and accompany him to dinner.
I didn't have to go, but I did. I wore the dress Mike told me to wear, which revealed everything I had as well as all I lacked. I wore nothing underneath either, because that was what Mike wanted, and I went to dinner with Mike because, well... it was a night out, and it wasn't going to be at a fast food place.
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Chapter 1. When in Rome.
Rome, New York, that is. Rome was about ten miles from our house, and was even nore dull than Utica. There was a significant Italian population in the area, and so it was no surprise when Mike pulled up in front of an Italian restuarant, since that seemed to be the prevailing enterprise in those parts.
"A little fancy for us, isn't it?" I observed as I looked around after entering. "Tablecloths instead of paper placemats - and forks too!" I added dryly as I looked at the dining room while we waited to be greeted and seated.
"Nothing's too good for my baby," Mike said as he gave me a squeeze. "And you look so beautiful tonight too."
That comment certainly should have sent the warning signals up, but I was so starved for compliments I took it happily. Besides, as I've mentioned many times before, Mike could charm the birds out of the trees when he wanted to. Heaven help the poor birds after that, however.
Mike whispered something to the young woman who had appeared with menus in hand, and she promptly disappeared, walking to the back of the dining area.
"What's up?" I asked innocently. "No open tables?" I said while noting that there were only a few parties scattered about in the spacious dining room.
Mike told me not to worry, which was another warning sign. We were going to have a very special evening, he assured me, and when the hostess reappeared she was smiling broadly and escorted us to the far corner of the room.
There was a crescent shaped booth in the dimly light corner, and when we neared it, a sharp dressed couple stood up to greet us.
"Hello Mike," the man said in a very business-like tone as he shook my husband's hand.
He was shaking Mike's hand but his eyes were elsewhere.
"This must be your Rebecca!" he said as he broke away from Mike and held out his hand, a big grin showing an immaculate set of sparkling teeth. "I'm Tony and this is my wife Carmela."
I stuck out my hand and Tony took it and raised it to his lips, kissing it lightly, while I kept my arm down as best I could, since I was still doing the unshaven armpit look at Mike's insistence, and this dress left precious little to the imagination.
Tony was probably in his forties, and very ethnic looking. Bronze skin, wavy black hair and about 6' and well built. He was looking really good for his age, and the pinkie ring made him appear like he had just arrived from the set of The Godfather.
His wife Carmela was something else altogether. Very exotic features - a Central New York version of Sophia Loren - a look that was sultry and sensual without even trying. Flawless copper skin, full red lips and, as she came up to me and hugged me, one heck of a body hidden away under her elegant pant suit that had probably cost more than every stitch of clothes I owned combined.
Tony had me slide into the booth and I found myself stuck in the back of the semi-circle, where I was quickly joined by Tony on my left and Carmela, who slid next to me on my right. Mike hopped into the booth opposite me on the end, and we were all set. One big happy family.
2. This is cozy.
It was a very intimate and somewhat secluded booth, but the way we were seated make it look a little strange. Mike was sitting on the other end of the crescent shaped booth, and then there was a large space. Then there was Tony, yours truly and Carmela. A more accurate description would be TonyMeCarmela.
There was plenty of room for Tony to have slid over, but that was obviously not on his agenda. I looked at Mike, who smiled at me while looking like a happy puppy.
A waitress came with bread and a couple of bottles of Chianti, and I lept for my glass as soon as it was poured.
"Rebecca likes her wine?" Tony asked me, and I assured him I did as I set the empty glass down.
"Mike described how beautiful you were, but he did not do you justice," Tony said softly to me, and I gasped very audibly.
It wasn't his compliment, which he delivered in a deep and seductive voice, that made me gasp. It was the hand that arrived on my thigh about mid-sentence that caused my involuntary response. Tony's left hand was softly stroking my thigh about halfway up, and as he rubbed it I felt my dress being inched up ever so slightly.
I was about to tell him he needed an eye doctor if he thought I was beautiful, especially considering the way his wife looked, just before the hand hit the thigh, but the words stuck in my throat as I looked to Mike for help. Mike was concerned as well - he was having a great deal of trouble buttering bread, drinking wine, and watching my reactions from get felt up all at the same time.
The crazy part of this was that this guy was rubbing my leg while his wife was sitting right next to me on my other side. What if she saw him?
"Isn't Rebecca lovely, dear?" Tony asked his wife.
"Yes," Carmela said. "She has a very wholesome and natural beauty about her."
Carmela was clearly not troubled by her husband's wandering hand. I could tell because the next thing I knew Carmela's right hand was sliding over my other thigh.
"Dressing?" Mike was asking me, and I broke out of my daze to see that the waitress was taking orders.
"Italian," I squeaked out in embarrassment, as it had to be obvious to the waitress what was going on under the table, but if she saw, she gave no sign.
Tony's hand was patiently rubbing my thigh in a deliberate, circular motion as I squirmed in the tufted vinyl seat. My dress slid up further as I did, but Carmela was working her hand under it anyway, and when I felt the back of her hand reach my bush I jumped a bit.
The salads arrived and we ate them like any normal group would. Mike with his eyes devouring my every emotion, me eating with a dazed look on my face and my thighs quivering, and Tony and Carmela both digging into their salads with one hand while feeling me up with the other.
3. Dinner is served.
The salad dishes were taken away, and more wine appeared. Mike was drinking a lot of Chianti - almost as much as I was, and it suddenly struck me that it must be because he wasn't picking up the check. Of course! This restaurant must belong to Tony and Carmela.
"This is a charming place," I said as Tony and Carmela's hands met while raking their fingers through my bush.
"I'm glad you like it," Tony said. "The dining experience is enhanced greatly when you have such a lovely guest."